Up to 150 Taliban suffer casualties in Ghazni: MoD

GHAZNI CITY (Pajhwok): Police on Friday said more than 100 Taliban militants were killed and wounded after they attacked this capital city of southern Ghazni province from four directions.

Four security personnel were also killed and several others wounded as the clashes continued for several hours, Ghazni police spokesman Col. Farid Ahmad Mashal told Pajhwok Afghan News.

Earlier, Mashal said the Taliban waged attacks at 12am midnight on security posts soon after entering the city from various directions.

The Taliban had called in fighters from central Maidan Wardak and southern Zabul province and they attacked security posts, the police headquarters and other military installations.

The attackers were pushed back after a few hours but they were still holding up in shops and civilian homes, said Mashal.

However, an official at the civil hospital in Ghazni City, Dr. Noorullah, confirmed receiving eight dead bodies of police personnel and 17 injured people including civilians at the hospital.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defense said the Taliban attack on Ghazni City had been pushed back, with the attackers sustaining heavy casualties.

In a statement, the MoD said so far as many as 150 Taliban attackers had suffered casualties in the Ghazni clashes. It said some bodies of the rebels remained at the battleground.

The Ghazni police spokesman said they had prior information about the Taliban attacks and therefore measures had already been taken to push them back. Combing operations in the city would be launched soon.